Where is she?

Thorne had been surprised that Aster had accepted his invitation...but he’d forgotten that humans could lie. Falsehoods rolled off their tongues like ferns unfurling in the spring. He’d been left waiting for her before.

He hissed out a breath through his teeth, leaning back abruptly and swinging his feet up to rest them on the tabletop.

Perhaps she’d never had any intention at all of showing up for dinner. Perhaps she’d lied so he would leave her alone with her work in the potting shed. Perhaps she’d—

Thorne loosed a tight breath as Aster appeared in the doorway back into the mansion. She certainly hadn’t shown up in her gardening pinafore…